Tour of Utah 2019 – Stage 2 [FULL STAGE]

August 14, 2019

Tour of Utah 2019 – Stage 2 – Brigham City – Powder Mountain Resort : 135,8 km

Much like the race profiles that have characterised its routes over the past 15 years, the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, which begins August 12 at Snowbird Resort, has had an up-and-down trajectory in its ability to attract UCI WorldTour teams. The 2.HC race has seen its roster rise to as many as seven top-tier teams, and then sink as low as two. This year appears to be one of the ebbs in that flow, as the 2019 race – no doubt affected by the loss of the Colorado Classic men’s race the following week – drew just EF Education First and Trek-Segafredo. Nevertheless, the race boasts three returning champions and a rider who wore the yellow jersey at the Tour de France for two days last month. The 2019 race route, although centered near the Salt Lake City hub at the north end of the state, should supply plenty of challenges, obstacles and drama on the way to crowing the 2019 winner, as well as showing off Utah’s famed natural beauty.

Ben Hermans (Israel Cycling Academy) took an enormous victory on the queen stage of the Tour of Utah on Powder Mountain on Wednesday to inherit the race lead from overnight leader Lawson Craddock (EF Education First).

The ascent, which kicks up to over 9000ft/2600m in altitude wreaked havoc on the overall standings, with overnight leader Lawson Craddock (EF Education First) losing over two minutes, while prologue winner James Piccoli (Elevate-KHS) showed his class with a gutsy ride to take second on the stage. Niklas Eg (Trek-Segafredo) took third on the day.

Eg’s teammate Peter Stetina kicked off the attacking in the main group, midway up the climb. His move provoked splits in the group, and soon after, the lead trio emerged. Despite attacks from Piccoli, it was Hermans who proved the strongest of the three. The Belgian got away inside the final 5km and steadily built a lead over his companions, sealing his third win of the season and taking over the overall lead.

“I knew I had to be in really good shape for this climb, because you can make a lot of time or lose a lot of time here,” Hermans said after the stage. “I hoped for the best legs. I had a really good feeling on the climb, and so I’m happy I could take the win.

“Last year I won on the Kitzbüheler [at the Tour of Austria] and this year I won on the Grossglockner, and now I’ve won here on Powder Mountain, so it’s been two good years for me, and I’m really happy to have this on my palmarès.”

How it unfolded

The skies were clear and roads wide again for stage 2 of the Tour of Utah from Brigham City to Powder Mountain, and once again Mexican champion Ignacio Prado (Canel’s-Specialized) was on the move followed by Ulises Castillo (Elevate-KHS) and several more, but the legs in the peloton were too fresh to let anything go in the first 20km.

Travis McCabe (Worthy Pro Cycling) launched a counter-move but again, nothing could go clear. Until the first sprint, it was a free-for-all of the Continental squads, with numerous attacks pinging off the front, the riders looking back to check on the peloton before the move was reeled back.

Canel’s Specialized and Neri Sottoli were the most aggressive, with stage 1 winner Umberto Marengo following a number of moves in anticipation of the sprint. But it was Nippo Vini Fantini’s Marco Canola and McCabe who took the top spots ahead of Marco Pavlic (DC Bank).

Aevolo countered the sprint and the elastic began to stretch and stretch, another counter by Max Chance and Sam Boardman (Wildlife Generation) opened up a bit more of a gap, but it wasn’t until Prado attacked again with Mika Heming (Dauner-Akkon) that a gap would yawn out more than a few seconds.

Quinten Kirby (Wildlife Generation), Austin Stephens (303 Project), Travis Samuel (DC Bank) and Christopher Heider (Dauner-Akkon) bridged across to make it six out front with Aevolo’s Cade Bickmore chasing in no-man’s land.

Prado went unchallenged in the next sprint as the leaders help a two minute advantage on the peloton, topping Samuel and Heider with 78.2km to go.

The peloton kept the gap in check just below two minutes as Bickmore faded back to the bunch.

On the day’s smaller climb, Prado picked up 8 points to take the virtual lead in the mountains classification, attacking to take maximum points over Samuel and Heming. And on the final intermediate sprint, Prado again jetted away for the first place points.

Cracks started to show in the escape as first Kirby was distanced with 36km to go, but it was good news for their gap which went out to 2:45 and growing as they headed into the hills.

It wasn’t until the 20km to go mark when the chase from the peloton began in earnest, with Rally UHC and Trek-Segafredo coming to the fore to help whittle down a 1:45 gap to the five leaders. With 16km to go, Heider and Prado, then Stephens were dropped by a surge from Samuel, who had Heming glued to his wheel. The pair played a game of cat and mouse to see who would be last man standing, and their gap tumbled until both were finally brought back by the bunch with 13km to go.

Oscar Sanchez (Canel’s Specialized) put in the first attack as the race hit the lower slopes of the climb with 11km to go, and when he was joined by Neri-Sottoli’s Sebastian Schönberger but that only served to nullify the move. Trek-Segafredo manned the front of the peloton that splintered rapidly as the gradient kicked upward. With Neri Sottoli, Trek-Segafredo, and Rally UHC well represented in the group.

Stetina launched with 7.3km to go, further shattering the leading group, with Dombrowski leading the chase. The attack spelled the end of Craddock’s time in the front group.

Fresh off a podium finish in the Leadville 100, Stetina had no trouble with the high altitude and even if he cracked, he had teammate Niklas Eg in the group behind.

Piccoli took up the chase with 6km still to go, hoping to regain the race lead after being penalized for motorpacing after stage 1. He was followed by Hermans as Dombrowski and Eg lost contact.

The Elevate KHS rider reeled Stetina in with 4km to go only to be attacked by Hermans not long after, the Trek-Segafredo rider was then left well behind. The Belgian looked smooth and powerful even into the final kilometers as he pulled out an impressive advantage on his chasers.

Results :
1 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy 3:37:44
2 James Piccoli (Can) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling 0:00:20
3 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:35
4 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:58
5 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First 0:01:26
6 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:01:31
7 Rob Britton (Can) Rally UHC Cycling 0:01:36
8 João Almeida (Por) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:01:54
9 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Israel Cycling Academy 0:02:37
10 Scott Bowden (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:02:52
11 Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:02:59
12 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First 0:03:10
13 Griffin Easter (USA) 303 Project
14 Gavin Mannion (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:03:33
15 Dayer Quintana (Col) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:03:49
16 Keegan Swirbul (USA) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:04:39
17 Efren Santos Moreno (Mex) Canel’s-Specialized 0:04:47
18 Alex Hoehn (USA) Aevolo 0:04:50
19 Juan Pedro Lopez Perez (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:05:17
20 Kevin Vermaerke (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:05:23
21 Andrew Vollmer (USA) Aevolo 0:05:31
22 Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Education First 0:05:41
23 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Cycling Academy 0:05:52
24 Eder Frayre (Mex) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team 0:06:00
25 Edward Anderson (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:07:12
26 Serghei Tvetcov (Rom) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:07:24
27 Filippo Fiorelli (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:07:30
28 Guy Niv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 0:07:39
29 Flavio de Luna (Mex) 303 Project
30 Bernat Font Mas (Spa) 303 Project 0:07:53
31 Hayden McCormick (NZl) Team Bridgelane
32 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:08:33
33 Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM
34 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
35 Oscar Eduardo Sanchez Guarin (Col) Canel’s-Specialized 0:08:40
36 Pablo Andrés Alarcon Cares (Chi) Canel’s-Specialized 0:08:41
37 Dominik Bauer (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon 0:09:26
38 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:10:20
39 Simone Velasco (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM
40 Filippo Zaccanti (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:10:31
41 Gregory Daniel (USA) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team 0:10:48
42 Conor Schunk (USA) Aevolo 0:10:57
43 Jordan Cheyne (Can) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling 0:11:20
44 Alexander Cowan (Can) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:12:11
45 Nathan Earle (Aus) Israel Cycling Academy 0:12:26
46 Cullen Easter (USA) 303 Project 0:12:50
47 Isaiah Newkirk (USA) 303 Project 0:13:44
48 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:13:48
49 Jean-Denis Thibault (Can) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team 0:14:00
50 Camden Vodicka (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis 0:15:10
51 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:16:08
52 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:16:12
53 Ulises Alfredo Castillo Soto (Mex) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling 0:16:53
54 Benjamin Wolfe (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC 0:16:56
55 Stephen Bassett (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis
56 Cade Bickmore (USA) Aevolo
57 Gabriel Francisco Rojas Campos (CRc) Aevolo 0:17:40
58 Thomas Revard (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:17:59
59 Alex Howes (USA) EF Education First
60 Travis McCabe (USA) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:18:20
61 Nicolas Debeaumarche (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:18:27
62 Justin Oien (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC 0:18:39
63 Tyler Lindorff (Aus) Team Bridgelane
64 TJ Eisenhart (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC
65 Tanner Putt (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC
66 Tyler Magner (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:18:42
67 George Simpson (USA) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling
68 Matthew Zimmer (USA) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team
69 Tony Baca (Mex) 303 Project 0:19:10
70 Andzs Flaksis (Lat) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC 0:19:27
71 Edwin Avila (Col) Israel Cycling Academy 0:19:48
72 Sho Hatsuyama (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:20:03
73 Marco Canola (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
74 Hamish Schreurs (NZl) Israel Cycling Academy 0:20:29
75 Umberto Marengo (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:20:58
76 Giovanni Lonardi (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
77 Antoine Leplingard (Fra) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team 0:21:06
78 Nigel Ellsay (Can) Rally UHC Cycling 0:21:39
79 Michael Rice (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon
80 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
81 Oliver Flautt (USA) Team Dauner-Akkon
82 Scott McGill (USA) Aevolo 0:21:45
83 Francisco Lara Carbajal (Mex) Canel’s-Specialized 0:21:57
84 Brendan Rhim (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC 0:22:05
85 Noah Granigan (USA) Worthy Pro Cycling
86 Cole Davis (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
87 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:22:08
88 Ayden Toovey (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:22:19
89 James Whelan (Aus) EF Education First
90 Eric Brunner (USA) Aevolo 0:22:25
91 Miguel Bryon (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC 0:22:48
92 Jose Alfredo Rodriguez Victoria (Mex) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling 0:22:57
93 Leonel Palma Dajui (Mex) Canel’s-Specialized
94 Eric Young (USA) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling
95 Maxx Chance (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis
96 Kent Ross (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis
97 Emile Jean (Can) Worthy Pro Cycling
98 Samuel Boardman (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis
99 Philipp Mamos (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon 0:23:13
100 Sven Thurau (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon 0:23:44
101 Austin Stephens (USA) 303 Project 0:25:03
102 Finn Gullickson (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis 0:25:30
103 Miká Heming (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon 0:26:24
104 Ignacio Prado Juarez (Mex) Canel’s-Specialized 0:26:58
105 Eduardo Corte Cordero (Mex) Canel’s-Specialized 0:26:59
106 Travis Samuel (Can) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team 0:27:14
107 Samuel Bassetti (USA) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling 0:28:04
108 Marko Pavli (Slo) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team 0:28:15
109 Christopher Heider (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon 0:31:29
110 Quinten Kirby (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis 0:32:09
DNS Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
DNS Chris Harper (Aus) Team Bridgelane
DNS Joseph Cooper (NZl) Team Bridgelane

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy 7:10:07
2 James Piccoli (Can) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling 0:00:26
3 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:52
4 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:10
5 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First 0:01:33
6 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:01:35
7 João Almeida (Por) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:01:46
8 Rob Britton (Can) Rally UHC Cycling 0:01:47
9 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First 0:02:56
10 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Israel Cycling Academy 0:02:58
11 Scott Bowden (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:03:08
12 Griffin Easter (USA) 303 Project 0:03:23
13 Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:03:37
14 Gavin Mannion (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:03:40
15 Dayer Quintana (Col) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:04:16
16 Keegan Swirbul (USA) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:04:48
17 Alex Hoehn (USA) Aevolo 0:05:00
18 Kevin Vermaerke (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:05:37
19 Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Education First 0:05:54
20 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Cycling Academy 0:06:00
21 Juan Pedro Lopez Perez (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:06:01
22 Eder Frayre (Mex) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team 0:06:33
23 Serghei Tvetcov (Rom) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:07:22
24 Andrew Vollmer (USA) Aevolo 0:07:32
25 Edward Anderson (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:07:40
26 Efren Santos Moreno (Mex) Canel’s-Specialized 0:07:50
27 Hayden McCormick (NZl) Team Bridgelane 0:08:15
28 Filippo Fiorelli (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:08:19
29 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:08:58
30 Pablo Andrés Alarcon Cares (Chi) Canel’s-Specialized 0:09:18
31 Dominik Bauer (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon 0:10:06
32 Guy Niv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 0:10:37
33 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:10:43
34 Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:10:52
35 Simone Velasco (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:10:59
36 Gregory Daniel (USA) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team 0:11:17
37 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:11:27
38 Oscar Eduardo Sanchez Guarin (Col) Canel’s-Specialized 0:12:01
39 Flavio de Luna (Mex) 303 Project 0:12:53
40 Nathan Earle (Aus) Israel Cycling Academy 0:13:15
41 Bernat Font Mas (Spa) 303 Project 0:13:17
42 Conor Schunk (USA) Aevolo 0:14:01
43 Alexander Cowan (Can) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:14:43
44 Filippo Zaccanti (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:15:33
45 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:15:54
46 Jordan Cheyne (Can) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling 0:16:14
47 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:16:53
48 Cade Bickmore (USA) Aevolo 0:17:53
49 Alex Howes (USA) EF Education First 0:18:14
50 Travis McCabe (USA) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:18:27
51 Tyler Magner (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:19:18
52 Ulises Alfredo Castillo Soto (Mex) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling 0:19:38
53 Edwin Avila (Col) Israel Cycling Academy 0:20:04
54 Thomas Revard (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:20:11
55 Gabriel Francisco Rojas Campos (CRc) Aevolo 0:20:15
56 Marco Canola (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:20:42
57 Tyler Lindorff (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:21:18
58 Umberto Marengo (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:21:19
59 Stephen Bassett (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis 0:21:22
60 Matthew Zimmer (USA) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team 0:21:32
61 Isaiah Newkirk (USA) 303 Project 0:22:05
62 Benjamin Wolfe (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC 0:22:07
63 Michael Rice (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:22:24
64 Brendan Rhim (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC
65 Cole Davis (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:22:47
66 Sho Hatsuyama (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:23:18
67 Ayden Toovey (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:23:21
68 Cullen Easter (USA) 303 Project 0:23:37
69 Nicolas Debeaumarche (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:23:38
70 TJ Eisenhart (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC 0:23:44
71 Tanner Putt (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC 0:23:47
72 Hamish Schreurs (NZl) Israel Cycling Academy 0:23:49
73 Giovanni Lonardi (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:23:55
74 Tony Baca (Mex) 303 Project 0:24:08
75 Andzs Flaksis (Lat) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC 0:24:24
76 Francisco Lara Carbajal (Mex) Canel’s-Specialized 0:25:15
77 Justin Oien (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC 0:25:41
78 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:25:51
79 Oliver Flautt (USA) Team Dauner-Akkon 0:26:28
80 Philipp Mamos (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon 0:26:30
81 Leonel Palma Dajui (Mex) Canel’s-Specialized 0:26:31
82 George Simpson (USA) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling 0:26:37
83 Camden Vodicka (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis
84 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:26:38
85 Scott McGill (USA) Aevolo 0:26:56
86 Noah Granigan (USA) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:27:02
87 James Whelan (Aus) EF Education First 0:27:17
88 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:27:26
89 Jean-Denis Thibault (Can) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team 0:27:28
90 Sven Thurau (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon 0:28:44
91 Antoine Leplingard (Fra) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team 0:29:51
92 Eric Brunner (USA) Aevolo 0:30:19
93 Nigel Ellsay (Can) Rally UHC Cycling 0:31:07
94 Kent Ross (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis 0:31:30
95 Maxx Chance (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis 0:31:33
96 Jose Alfredo Rodriguez Victoria (Mex) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling 0:31:49
97 Eric Young (USA) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling 0:32:39
98 Austin Stephens (USA) 303 Project 0:33:13
99 Samuel Boardman (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis 0:33:40
100 Emile Jean (Can) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:33:52
101 Miguel Bryon (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC 0:34:17
102 Finn Gullickson (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis 0:41:06